Full of inventive insults, but undoubtedly a tribute
In his new memoir, You’re Not Doing It Right: Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death, and Other Humiliations, Michael Ian Black passes out in Amsterdam, fantasizes about telling his kids that Santa is fake, and calls his wife an unprintable word that begins with the letter “c.” And still, after reading the book’s 19 essays, you’re convinced that he’s a great guy: devoted husband, generous father, moral compass.
Black, known for more than a decade now as a stand-up comic, screenwriter, pop-culture pundit, and even serious poker player, deftly weaves in and out of his past and present, giving us a memoir-in-essays that’s as funny as it his heartfelt. We learn about his father’s death, his mother’s lesbianism, his wife’s ex-boyfriend, and his kids’ ceaseless cries. We follow Black from suburban New Jersey to the NYU dorms to first city apartment to Westchester homestead — a trajectory that makes him more than a little self-loathing. As a bohemian-turned-family man, Black spends a lot of time asking himself, “How did I get here?” (the book’s epigraph is Talking Heads lyrics). His answers are never definite and always shrewd. Dedicated to his wife, Martha, You’re Not Doing It Right — full of inventive insults and backhanded compliments — is undoubtedly a tribute to her. Behind every funny guy, after all, is a great woman: ready to laugh and more than ready to put him in his place.